Chapter 10 Parties, Party Systems and Interest Groups

This Week… Political Parties Interest Groups Party Systems The impact of party systems on political parties

Single Party Systems, Multiparty Systems and Interest Groups Differences in understanding of legitimacy ▫Multiparty systems in Europe ▫Two Party system in the USA ▫Single Party system in the USSR or China Interest groups in the decision making processes

What are Political Parties Political organizations ▫Seek to affect/influence policy ▫Primarily seek election or appointment to public office ▫Responsive to what the electorate wants ▫Broad set of principles ▫Provide platforms designed to appeal to broad collection of society ▫“articulate and aggregate ideas”

Interest Groups An organization that seeks to change the political system, policies or behaviours to fit own view ▫May endorse politicians ▫May advocate against politicians (or seek to influence them)  CTF, NRA, AAA Civil society ▫A broader set of interests across society, not always political, but usually seeking to improve the community Articulation and aggregation of ideas

Party Types Many kinds of parties – 3 we will note here Elite parties ▫Small number of political elite dominate Mass Parties ▫Large memberships, seek to engage the population in a massive movement to change the status quo (associated with extreme left and right) Catch all parties ▫Limited ideology, want broad based support ▫Generally reflects the will of voters

What are Party Systems Defined by patterns of party politics in a state Generally associated with the number of parties involved in the political system ▫Electable parties more important than unelectable ones

Kinds of Party Systems Single party dominant systems ▫Often associated with authoritarian regime ▫Viewed positively as a system in states with focus on community, rather than individual rights ▫More effective economic policies ▫Multiple parties divisive? ▫Some democratic states have strong single parties  Japan, South Africa, Mexico (from the 1930s-2000)  Canada in the 20 th C?  Africa and independence

Two Party Systems Surprisingly, two major parties ▫Two parties dominate over numerous elections ▫Noticeably different platforms  Right vs Left ▫Tend to emerge in single-member district systems ▫Larger parties tend to dominate in SMDs, so fewer parties survive

Multiparty Systems More than two competitive parties ▫Larger parties with more broad appeal ▫Smaller, sometimes, single issue parties are competitive ▫Usually associated with PR ▫Some advocates would argue that this better reflects voter preferences

Party Systems and Political Outcomes Two party systems collapse to the middle ▫Median voters ▫The swing vote ▫Playing to the base What happens if the distribution of preferences isn’t regular, but bi-modal? ▫Multiparty system will emerge What happens if people aren’t universally left or right, but concerned in different ways about different issues?

Interest Groups and Representation Pluralism: ▫How should government work? ▫Many voices of different groups, when they disagree it is up to the politicians to determine the wider public’s preference ▫What about special interests (too many voices?)  Inefficiency ▫The collective action and free riders in interest groups ▫Variety of voices may drown out the most important

Interest Groups and Representation 2 Corporatism: ▫Most important voices are government, business and labour  Empirical evidence in growth of Japan and South Korea ▫Consensus based decisions  Less disagreement and tensions in society  Harmony in relationships between business and labour

But… Corporatism isn’t inherently positive: ▫Who gets to participate in this arrangements (how are they chosen and held accountable) ▫Crony capitalism? ▫“Calcifying” relationships (which industry is THE industry that should have a say?) ▫Elite dominant ▫More groups ensure that the largest groups can never get too powerful.